Sept. 24, 2006
VILLANOVA, PA. – The Notre Dame volleyball team (8-5, BIG EAST 2-0), behind the first double-double of the season from sophomore Mallorie Croal (Villa Park, Calif./Mater Dei), downed BIG EAST rival Villanova (6-9, 1-1 BIG EAST) 3-1 by the scores of 35-37, 30-24, 33-31, 30-18 on Sunday, Sept. 24 at the Nevin Fieldhouse in Villanova, Pa.
Croal played a tremendous match for the Irish, as she was tied for the team-lead with 15 kills, while also tallying a season best 14 digs and hitting at a .462 clip (15-3-26). Freshman Christina Kaelin (Louisville, Ky./Assumption) was also tied for the team-lead with 15 kills. Junior Adrianna Stasiuk (Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South) continued her strong play and tallied her team-leading ninth double-double of the season with 12 kills and 15 digs. Stasiuk also recorded four blocks. Freshman Kim Kristoff (Carmel, Ind./Brebeuf Jesuit Prep) was the match leader with five blocks. Sophomore Justine Stremick (Langdon, N.D./Langdon Area) had a steady performance with seven kills and four blocks while hitting .400 for the match. Freshman Serinity Phillips (Valley Center, Calif./Valley Center) had the best match of her career with personal best 13 kills and four blocks for 15 points. Junior Ashley Tarutis (Long Beach, Calif./Los Alamitos) led the Irish with 29 assists. Senior Danielle Herndon (Plant City, Fla./Durant), for the 11th time this season, led the team in digs with 17. Freshman Jamel Nicholas (Gibsonia, Pa./Pine-Richland) tallied 27 assists and a match best three service aces.
In a losing effort Alona Cherkez led Villanova with 25 kills and 22 digs.
For the match, Notre Dame out hit the Wildcats .345 to .238, including an advantage of .438 to .114 in the fourth and deciding game.
The Irish continue BIG EAST play on the East Coast next weekend with a match against Seton Hall in South Orange, N.J. on Saturday, Sept. 30 at 12 p.m.
Notes: The win was head coach Debbie Brown’s 499th of her career putting her only one away from the magical 500 mark … The win by Notre Dame, after losing the first game, was the first for the program since last season’s comeback victory over Louisville in the BIG EAST Championship Final … The Irish hitting percentage of .345 was the highest Notre Dame has hit in match longer than three games since 2004 against Boston College … With both Tarutis and Nicholas tallying over 20 assists against Villanova, it was the first time since the Northern Iowa match on Sept. 9, 2006 that the Irish have had two players accumulate that many helpers … The win for Notre Dame was the first one for the Irish on Sunday’s this season … The loss in the first game at 35-37 was the highest scoring individual game (72 points) for Notre Dame since Aug. 30, 2003 when they topped Eastern Washington 37-35 in game one, which is still tied for the highest scoring individual game for Notre Dame.